Position-indicating flasher for boat docks

ABSTRACT

A boat dock position-indicating flasher composed of two lights of different colors which flash alternately. One light has a wide cone of illumination so as to be visible from a wide range of angles. The other light is visible only when the observer is located in direct alignment with the flasher. Because the two lights flash alternately, they can easily be distinguished from one another even at a great distance.

e r United States Patent 1 1 3,576,523

[72] lnventor Edmund Clarence Lerbalcken [56] References Ci d 742nd Ave. South, Minneapolis, Mllll'l. UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,054,086 9/1962 l-lolm 340/25 APPLNQ 3,377,617 4/1968 Projector 340/29 [22] Wed 1969 3 447 129 5/1969 B 11 al 340/29x 4s 1 Patented Apr.27, 1971 Primary Examiner-Alvin H. Waving Attorney-James V. Harmon [541 gg g ASHER FOR BOAT ABSTRACT: A boat dock position-indicating flasher I 3 Cl 4D composed of two lights of different colors which flash Figs alternately. One light has a wide cone of illumination so as to [52] U.S.Cl. 340/29, be visible from awide range of angles. The other light is visible 340/25 only when the observer is located in direct alignment with the [51] Int. Cl. G08g3/00 flasher. Because the two lights flash alternately, they can [50] Field olSearch 340/25, 26, easily be distinguished from one another even at a great distance.

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IJCZUW 86 Q I lo? 4 I 1 IN VENT OR. Edmund Clue/1c: LeebA/V/fl'm VMZL POSITION-INDICATING FLASHER FOR 80A! DOCKS The'present'inventio'n relates to position indicators and more particularly to a flashing position indicator for designating the location of a boat dock or other object on the shore of a body of water.

A great many indicating devices have been previously proposed. For example, it has been known to provide flashing indicators for buoys including a pair of lights for illuminating signs and other visible markings. It is also known to shield lights to provide a narrow angle of illumination. Signalling devices used by the railroad industry have included several lights of different colors each adapted to produce a beam oriented in a different direction. These prior devices have, however, not been suitable for assisting persons at sea or on a lake in finding their way to a particular boat house or dock. A steady light is regarded as being unsuitable because a light can easily be confused with other nearby lights. In addition, a substantial amount of power is required when the light is on continuously. Although blinking lights are distinctive, they provide little assistance in helping one avoid objects in the water.

In view of these and other deficiencies of the prior art it is one object of the present invention to provide an improved position indicating flasher which is rugged in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and will operate reliably over an extended period of time.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved position-indicating marker for boat docks and alike which can be readily distinguished from other surrounding lights or illuminated objects.

A further object of, the invention is the provision of an improved dock marker with a means for providing illumination over a wide range of angles as well as a means for indicating when the observer is in alignment with the axis of the indicator.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved indicator of the type described that requires very little power for operation.

A further object is the provision of an improved position indicator which is small enough in size to be portable. A further object of the invention is the provision of improved illuminated indicator for marking the location of a dock or other object which can be used without the requirement for special equipment.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved dock marker in which two colored lights are used and a provision is made for easily distinguishing one from the other.

A further object'of the invention is the provision of an improved dock marker of the type described which can be started either by closing a switch or by means of a timer.

These and other more detailed and specific objects of the invention will become apparent in few of the following specifications and drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic wiring diagram of one form of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the invention on a somewhat smaller scale than in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram as seen in plan view showing the light pattern employed in accordance with the invention.

Toward the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends the invention thencomprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in' the claims. the following description setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of buta few of the various ways which the principal of the invention may be employed.

Briefly, the present invention provides a position indicator including a plurality of lights. In a preferred form of the invention the lights are of different colors and flash alternately. One beam is preferrably wide and the other narrow and positioned in alignment with the axis of the indicator. t

Referring now to the FIGS. and particulars in FIGS. 1 and 3 is shown a position indicator l0 composed of a rectangular housing 12 formed from sheet metal or plastic and having secured to its upper surface by means of brackets 14 and 16 a shield 18 having a frustoconical tubular shape. The tube 18 is open at its right end as seen in the FIGS. and is provided with a lamp 20 at its left end. The lamp 20 is mounted within a socket 22 which is coupled by conductors 24 and 26 to a flasher indicated generally at 28. The inside surface of the tube I8 is painted with a nonreflective light-absorbing paint such as a matt finish black paint. From this it will be understood that the lamp 20 can only be seen when the observer is located in alignment with the axis'of the tube 18 which in turn is aligned with the axis of the indicator 10. While the come of illumination from the lamp 20 permitted by the tube 18 is not critical, I prefer to limit the cone to an arc of between about 5 and 30.

The housing 12 supports a second lamp 30 surrounded by a parabolic reflector 32 and provided with a glass lens 34 containing a large number of surface irregularities 36 so as to provide diffuse light over a wide angle of almost 180 as indicated by the included angle between the lines 38 and 40 of FIG. 4. The beam produced by the bulb 20 is indicated by the angle included between the lines 42 and 44.

The wiring diagram of FIG. 2 illustrates one form of flasher circuit used for actuating the lamps 20 and 30. The circuit indicated generally at 46 is a saturated flip-flop. The circuit includes a pair of PNP transistors 48 and 50 one of which is conducting while the other is nonconducting. For regulated firing, it is preferred to have a predetermined collector to emitter voltage of the saturated conducting transistor to adjust base current of the nonconducting transistor to a point where the circuit gain is proper to fire alternately at the desired frequency. Constants employed for circuit components should be appropriately chosen to provide an alternating flash of each lamp on the order of about once each second or so. The conductor 24 is connected through parallel coupled capacitor 60 and resistor 62 by conductor 64 to the base of the transistor 48. Similarly, conductor 66 of the lamp 30 is connected through parallel coupled capacitor 68 and resistor 70 to a conductor 72 which is wired to the base of the transistor 50. The emitters of the transistors are connected by conductor 74 and through a switch 76 to a battery 78. The negative terminal on the battery 78 is coupled to conductor 26 of lamp 20 and a conductor 80 of lamp 30. Connected across the lamps 20 and 30 are resistors 82 and 84. If desired, a commercially available motor-operated timer 86 can be wired across the switch 76 thereby allowing one to set the time at which the flasher is to begin operation.

The operation of the apparatus will now be described. When the flasher is to be used, it is placed as shown in FIG. 4 on a dock or other object 86 located on the shore of a body of water 88. The flasher I0 is positioned so that the open end of the tube 18 and lamp 30 face toward the body of water. If the lamp 30 is yellow in color, the lamp 20 should be of some contrasting color such as red. Since two colors are provided for each flasher it is possible to make up a relatively large number of'combinations of colors. This assures that each flasher canbe readily distinguished from others in the event more than one is in use in the same area. It should be clear that a number of combinations of colors are possible such as orange and green, blue and red, yellow and violet, etc. After the flasher has been properly placed and preferrably secured to the dock in any suitable way as by means of a clamp (not shown) the switch is operated. This will set the circuit'46 in operation with each of the lamps 20 and 30 flashing alternately atthe rate of about one to two per second. In the event the timer switch 86 is to be used, it should be set and energized to operate at the selected time. In case the flasher 10 is to be used as permanent installation on the dock 86, either or both of the switches 76 or 86 are preferrably remotely located so that the flasher can be operated more conveniently from some distance away.

As the flasher operates, the lamps 20 and 30 will operate alternately in this case producing a relatively wide yellow beam and relatively narrow red beam oriented parallel to the axis of the flasher. In this way, as seen from a boat some distance off, only the yellow light will be visible. As the boat proceeds parallel to the shore line, eventually the red light will also be visible and can be clearly distinguished from the yellow light because of the temporal spacing. The boat should then be turned directly toward the light to proceed to the dock. In this way it is possible to avoid rocks or other boats that may be tied up near the shore.

The invention has a number of desirable characteristics and advantages. it is inexpensive to produce and because the lamps 20 and 30 flash for only a short period of time very little power is required. Accordingly, a small battery will operate the unit for many hours. Moreover, the flasher can be set in operation either by operating a switch on the flasher itself or from a remote location. It can be seen from a long distance and because two colors are used, a relatively large combination of colors can be provided to make it highly unlikely that any two flashers of the same combination of colors will be operating nearby one another. As a result one can easily distinguish his own flasher from another. The position indicator of the present invention can also be seen at a substantial distance without any special equipment. it is small enough to be portable and at least one of the lights (lamp 30) can be seen from a wide range of angles but at the same time provision is made that allows the observer to know when he is in alignment with the axis of the flasher. Because colored lamps flash alternately, they can readily be distinguished from one another.

A variety of modifications can be made in the invention. For

example, any suitable timer can be used for operating the lamps alternately. The timer should, however, be inexpensive and have a low power requirement.

lclaim:

l. A position marking apparatus for indicating the location of a boat dock or other object to be found on a body of water, said apparatus comprising lamp means for providing a pair of lights, one of the lights being a beam of a relatively narrow defined angle and the other of the lights being unbeamed and visible within a relatively wide angle compared with said one beam on the order of at least about 180 and is of a different color and a flip-flop circuit means for operating the lights sequentially so that one light is off while the other is on to thereby facilitate observation and discrimination of the two lights although the lights emanate from points close together and the axis of said one light being located in approximately the center of the area in which the unbeamed light is visible.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein two lamps are provided, one lamp to provide one of the beams and other lamp to provide the other of the beams, one of the lamps has connected to it a shielding tube to direct the light therefrom along a narrow axis having a predetermined relationship in respect to the axis of the apparatus.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 including a housing having a pair of lamps mounted thereon, one such lamp having a shielding tube connected thereto for confining the light admitted from said lamp to relatively narrow angle, the other of said lamps having a lens optically associated therewith, said lens having a large number of surface irregularities to thereby render the light from the second lamp visible from a wide range of angles. 

1. A position marking apparatus for indicating the location of a boat dock or other object to be found on a body of water, said apparatus comprising lamp means for providing a pair of lights, one of the lights being a beam of a relatively narrow defined angle and the other of the lights being unbeamed and visible within a relatively wide angle compared with said one beam on the order of at least about 180* and is of a different color and a flip-flop circuit means for operating the lights sequentially so that one light is off while the other is on to thereby facilitate observation and discrimination of the two lights although the lights emanate from points close together and the axis of said one light being located in approximately the center of the area in which the unbeaMed light is visible.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein two lamps are provided, one lamp to provide one of the beams and other lamp to provide the other of the beams, one of the lamps has connected to it a shielding tube to direct the light therefrom along a narrow axis having a predetermined relationship in respect to the axis of the apparatus.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1 including a housing having a pair of lamps mounted thereon, one such lamp having a shielding tube connected thereto for confining the light admitted from said lamp to relatively narrow angle, the other of said lamps having a lens optically associated therewith, said lens having a large number of surface irregularities to thereby render the light from the second lamp visible from a wide range of angles. 